Can anyone recommend a condensing boiler that will work on a single pipe central heating system? (and supported by the manufacturer) Don’t want to have to dig up the concrete floors to put in a two pipe system.
^^ agree, lower efficiency
but wait for nossda to come along as he doesn't think these systems exist anymore
excellent point on the thermo vvs reparee thats the killer
The make of boiler you choose should not make any difference to your system, ie whether it's one pipe or two or micro bore or whatever. The boiler is only the heat source. As long as it is sized correctly to give you enough heat for the rads and hot water.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS 22-10-08
A one pipe system is a very old fashioned heating system it was cheap to install, and not very efficient, they were installed in their thousands in local authority housing in the eary 60's and often supplied from a coal fired back boiler. The main pipe runs as a ring throughout the house with each radiator teed off it (both flow and return). A thermostatic valve on any one rad will not prevent water going through the others. Presumably if your system has been ballanced and working ok up to now then it should work ok now.
It is true that to comply with building regs that you will have to upgrade your system into zones when you change a major component such as a boiler, ie 1) heating upstairs, 2)heating downstairs and 3)hot water, and each zone interlocked to the boiler to shut it off . But you cannot zone a one pipe system into heating zones. So to comply with the regs its a big job, and failing to comply with the regs could cause you big big problems if you try to sell your house in the future.
But this is suplementary to the origional question.
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I am a 54 year old plumber with my own gas business, and a plumbing lecturer for 20 years.
I agree with Frank Mc, the only problem you will have is cleansing the system sufficiently to comply with manufacturers conditions on boiler replacement. There are many single pipe systems around although not illegal they are not efficient, you are not on your own.Good luck. Hope this helps.:):):)
The blessings of swept "TEE'S", if you know what i mean?
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^^ agree, lower efficiency
but wait for nossda to come along as he doesn't think these systems exist anymore
excellent point on the thermo vvs reparee thats the killer
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Agree with previous answers about lower efficiency. Another problem you will have is the requirement now to fit thermostatic radiator valves when you change the boiler. This will cause a one pipe system to stop working if one radiator turns itself off. To get around this you would have to fit bypass pipework between the pipes on each radiator further lowering the efficiency.
Although there are plenty of these systems still around my best advice to you is to bite the bullet and fully update it to a two pipe system.
Yes Garfield I know that type of system but as that site says usually found on industrial sites. The majority of domestic single pipe systems i've seen go in one rad and out to the next.
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22 years experience as a heating engineer.
I agree with ” rapparee” when I was installing heating systems I started using ” ring main ” type plumbing similar to electrical systems, the beauty is that the flow and return always have two paths, and it is not necessary to “balance” each radiator.
I accidently discovered in a house that I was working in, that the radiator in the return room was only warm, but was situated above the boiler room, I installed two pipes back to the boiler thus creating a ” ring main ” problem solved and a satisfied customer. Apparently the radiator had never been hot even when first installed.
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plumbing for 30 years now retired
there is no problem with one pipe system on a condensing boiler, but make sure that you have bypass as not all boilers do!
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Rapparee,look on this site for single pipe loop system.
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http://www.diydata.com/planning/central_heating/pipework.php
Make sure you fit a “strainer” on the return, you don’t want any junk getting into the water section,
as todays new boilers have a low water content and fairly narrow waterways.
Your guarantee will go right out of the window if the heat exchanger gets blocked.
Obviously flush the system before fitting the boiler
A one pipe system is the law of diminishing returns and you will see a difference with the surface temperature of each radiator.
With any luck the radiators were initially sized to take the temp drop into account, and heat the rooms to the required temp.
Worcester Bosch have a damned good service repair network……Personally I would give Viessmann a miss – poor – poor spares service.
Keep off the weird and wacky French boilers
Keston are pretty reliable – as are Vaillant.
You could try Rinnai UK, (Runcorn) they have brought out a new condensing boiler, if the boiler is half as good as their water heaters you are on to BIG BIG WINNER.
As previously stated.. flush the system…flush the system, and add inhibitor IF the manufacturer says it’s OK to do so.
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Any condensing boiler will run a one pipe system.
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Plumber.